Case Study: Malden Mills textile company

Malden Mills is a textile company that is responsible for the manufacturing the original Polartec polar fleece and more other textile products.

What is your assessment of Aaron Feuerstein? Does he deserve to be hailed as a hero?

Aaron Feuerstein deserves to be applauded as a hero because, despite the company being destroyed by active fire, he employed strong business ethics when he decided to pay the employees until he finished rebuilding the company. This was a unique move since it is very rare for a company to pay employees having not worked. However, the company incurred the double loss because during the reconstruction period it was not productive, and the workforce received their payment at the same time. Nevertheless, this did not hinder Aaron from constructing a more pleasant, healthy and sunny workplace thus he is a hero.

What is your assessment of the decision to rebuild the mills? Was restoring a good idea in the short-term? Was restoring a good idea in the long-term?

My assessment to the rebuilding move has both active and negative imperatives. To start with, rebuilding the company brought a better image and better facilities as compared to the previous ones before the fire struck the company. Additionally, this was an excellent opportunity to improve the company’s facilities to long-term services. On the other hand, this was a complete loss considering that the corporation remained unproductive in the eve of the reconstruction process. It would be a good move if the company remained active during the restoration process. Repairing the burnt facilities would ensure that the corporation’s activities were not suppressed. Thus the restoration idea had both positive and negative consequences.

What else could Feuerstein have done? How would stakeholders have been impacted?

First, it was a kind move by Feuerstein to pay the employees considering that the community around the company solely depended on it. However, I suggest that Feuerstein was not supposed to shut down the whole business at a go. He was expected to reconstruct the burnt facility in phases to reduce the reconstruction cost and to keep the employees working. This way the stakeholders would incur fewer losses in the end.

What is your assessment of the public’s reaction to what Feuerstein did? Why did the public praise Feuerstein so effusively? Why is job outsourcing so large a societal issue; is it “fair” to employees from your perspective?

Apparently, any community would have applauded Feuerstein of his kind decision of paying the employees despite them not being at work. Thus the community appreciated Aaron’s right decision. To business, this was very ethical, and it was fair to the employees considering that they depended on the company they would remain jobless until the enterprise was fully reconstructed. The company also marketed their brand, and to date many people have considered Malden Hills among the best places to work for because the company is conscious of the employee’s needs. I agree that job outsourcing is a huge societal issue because many people lose their jobs in which they wholly depended on. It was a fair decision for Feuerstein to pay the employees in the company’s reconstruction session.